


Story Time

by GreenGlitchBitch



Series: Avengers Theme Song Competition [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: All the Howlies are his uncles, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Avengers Family, Avengers Party, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, BAMF Peggy Carter, Callbacks to the first story, Fluff, Jokes, M/M, Natasha has emotions, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Peggy Carter is Tony Stark's Godparent, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Prank Wars, She's also not dead, Side Story, but so am I so it evens out, lots of callbacks, lots of fluff, many jokes, most of them are stupid, steve and bucky are engaged
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:01:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22064452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenGlitchBitch/pseuds/GreenGlitchBitch
Summary: When the world was finally right, Tony held a party at his lakeside cabin. Everyone who’d helped fight off Thanos was there, and new friendships had been forged, as stories from the Avengers beginnings, to things that happened in space, even funny anecdotes (courtesy, mostly of Tony), were told. As the sun set, and Morgan was put to bed, all the Avengers, new and old, sat around a campfire they’d made, and shared memories, enjoying the comfort of the campfire together
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: Avengers Theme Song Competition [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1588063
Comments: 3
Kudos: 33





	Story Time

**Author's Note:**

> Happy New Year! Enjoy this New Years gift of an Endgame fixit! This is leading up to the sequel to Who's got the better theme song. This was originally going to be that, but then I went a little off the rails, and it became what it is now. Theme Song Round 2, which is totally what it's getting called, won't be the next one after this, but the one after the next. The next one is gonna be awesome. Might be short, might not, I dunno, I haven't started it yet. But I know what I want to do. Anyway, happy New Year, let's start 2020 off with a bang!

It had been the closest fight of any of the Avengers lives. For a moment, it had seemed like they had lost once again. But Wanda and Carol came together to finally put an end to Thanos. With the Iron Gauntlet on one hand, and the other holding Wanda’s, to disperse the power of the stones between the two of them, she snapped, and Thanos and his army disappeared, and while everyone had been beaten and battered nearly to death, no one had died. 

Everyone helped put the world back together, after 5 years of lost hope, despair, and moving on. When the world was finally right, Tony held a party at his lakeside cabin. Everyone who’d helped fight off Thanos was there, and new friendships had been forged, as stories from the Avengers beginnings, to things that happened in space, even funny anecdotes (courtesy, mostly of Tony), were told. As the sun set, and Morgan was put to bed, all the Avengers, new and old, sat around a campfire they’d made, and shared memories, enjoying the comfort of the campfire together

Somehow, someone (Clint) began telling the story of the infamous “Theme Song Competition” that had taken place years ago, back when the world made sense. Everyone who’d participated in the competition laughed along with Clint, remembering their favorite songs, and who should have won.

“Clint, don’t even start! You deserved to be put in last place for the shit you pulled!” said Nat, glaring at Clint, a smile bright on her face.

“What did he do?” asked Rhodey, who hadn’t been anywhere near the tower the entire time the competition took place.

“He played this dumb song called Arrow as loud as he could, in every room of the tower at 2 in the morning! We only put him in first, because Bucky screamed it at him, to get him to shut it off. He locked his door, once he ran back to his room” Nat said, still obviously pissed, even after all these years.

“Wait, how did you know I locked my door?” asked Clint, looking and sounding terrified.

“I’m an ex-Russian assassin. How do you think I know?” Nat shot back, raising an eyebrow at Clint, who visibly shivered in fear.

“Yeah, Clint, I still hate you a little for that. But honestly, if anyone at all deserved to win, it was Thor! He played the perfect song, upon flying onto the roof of the tower, and he didn’t even know we were having a competition!” said Sam, laughing at the memory.

“Strange had such a good one!” remarked Pepper, remembering what Tony had told her. She hadn’t gotten to take part in the fun, because she had been running Stark Industry at the time.

“Oh right, the Witch Doctor Song! I completely forgot about that! There couldn’t have been a better song for me to appear to, honestly” said Strange, who’d been silently sitting next to Wong, the Cloak of Levitation floating next to him.

“Okay, but honestly, Sam’s was my favorite! I’m so pissed none of us got a recording of that!” said Steve, looking at Sam on his right.

“What did he do? It’s been ages” said Bruce, sitting next to Thor.

“He played the first verse of I believe I can fly, and none of us knew where he was. As soon as the chorus started, he flew past us all, wearing the wing suit, and flipped us all off” Steve answered, laughing almost as hard as he had that day.

“Why did Shuri get put in last place, though? Despacito deserved top spot!” said Peter, sitting next to Tony. Shuri, who had made an unholy friendship with Peter, fistbumped him from the right.

“Shuri got second to last place. Tony was stuck forever in last place. I gave her second to last, mostly to take the piss out of Tony, but also because I doubt she knew any other music” said Bucky, from Steve’s left.

“See, I think I deserve first place, because it was me, walking into the communal kitchen one morning, to Black Sabbath’s Iron Man, that started the damn thing!” Tony said, crossing his arms. Steve threw his head back while laughing.

“Okay, but you went with the most obvious song! And you made the biggest mistake ever, in basically challenging Nat! Everybody knows you don’t challenge the Black Widow, if you want to win” Steve said, still laughing. Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Okay, but you totally cheated! You knew if your song went last, you’d either win, or at least get landed in second place!” said Nat, pointing an accusatory finger at Steve, a smile on her face. Steve simply shrugged, and said, 

“Hey, we never came up with a rule system! And it was a competition to see who had the best theme song that related most to them! I can’t help it if that song was literally written about me back in the 40’s” everyone but the guardians laughed.

“What was the song?” asked Quill, looking a little confused, but happy to get to join in the fun.

“Star Spangled Man with a Plan. It was a song that was written about Captain America, back when I was doing USO show tours. There were girls who sang and danced the song, while I talked about bonds, and punched Hitler” said Steve, smiling fondly at the memory. Bucky, his head on Steve’s shoulder, smiled too.

“Shame I never got to see those tights in action. Still haven’t found any old reels that recorded it” he said, looking up at Steve, who rolled his eyes in embarrassment.

“I forget, who was the final, official winner of that competition?” asked Tony, who sat to the right of Pepper, his arm wrapped around her shoulder, both looking happy.

“Technically the official, singular winner was Steve. But then, like, 2 months later, he and Bucky used the competition to their advantage, and came out about their relationship with a song. I think Tony put their names on the top of the scoreboard after that, and that was when the competition ended” said Sam, sitting between Nat and Steve. Everyone who’d been present said some variation of “oh yeah” simultaneously. 

“Oh right! That was when Bucky proposed! I forgot about that! I don’t remember getting an invitation to the wedding, by the way. What’s the news on that?” asked Clint. Steve and Bucky looked at each other, timid smiles on their faces. 

“Well, we haven’t actually done anything about that yet. We had plans to get married in Wakanda, with T’Challa’s permission, but the chance to ask never came up. We’d considered getting married in the church we used to go to in Brooklyn, but then, stuff got in the way. I think we had a quick exchange of vows, and I do’s right before the Battle of Wakanda, because we didn’t know if this was going to be our last fight or not” said Steve, placing his hand in Bucky’s.

“Yeah, I remember doing that, like, an hour before shit went down. I think it was in a hallway at the Wakandan palace, when we had 2 seconds to stop, and realized what was happening. Didn’t even have the rings on us, so we couldn’t exchange them. But we’d promised each other that, if we made it out of this battle alive, and we managed to save the world, we’d have a ceremony with all our friends and family there. Looks like we’ve got some planning to do, Stevie” Bucky continued, smiling at Steve, who smiled back.

“It would appear to be that way” said Steve, and he removed his hand from Buckys, and wrapped it over his shoulder. Everyone smiled, finally having a peaceful moment with the family they’d made for each other. 

“Have you guys even come out to the press?” asked Pepper, her voice slipping back into, as Tony liked to call it, “Boss Voice”.

“Not yet. We thought about it for a long time after the proposal. Might be nice to just cheesely come out on social media, or something. We’ll think about it, and get back to you” said Steve, smiling at Pepper.

“Wow, Captain America and Bucky Barnes are gay! I used to read comics about you guys when I was a kid! You guys were in my history books!” said Quill, who’d been kind of fan-boying throughout this whole development. 

“Actually, I identify as bisexual, meaning I’m attracted to both men and women” said Steve, blushing slightly.

“So, was there anything between you and Aunt Peggy, Capsicle?” asked Tony, surprised as to why he’s never asked the question before.

“No. I mean, I loved her, yeah. She was the first woman who’d seen me for who I actually was, before I got the serum. I think, if things had ended differently, I might have married her. But by the time I met her, I knew Bucky was the love of my life, and we’d been together for about a decade. She was smart, and observant, so she obviously found out about us. She was supportive, and I later found out that she had been in love with an American waitress named Angie in the 50’s, even if she’d married a veteran named Daniel Sousa. It was actually Peggy who first told me what bisexual means” Steve answered, looking a little sad at the memory of Peggy. 

“Peggy Carter was such a bicon!” said Shuri, and she and Peter cheered. Steve chuckled at them.

“Wait, hold on. Stark did you just call Pegs ‘Aunt Peggy’?” asked Bucky, looking over at Tony, a shocked look on his face. Tony nodded

“Yeah, dear ol’ dad made her my godmother. One of the best things he ever did for me. I think I remember him telling me that, if Steve had survived the war, he probably would have been named my godfather, so, dodged a bullet there, Capsicle. She was basically my aunt, growing up. So, I called her Aunt Peggy. She used to tell me stories of you and the Commandos. I got to meet some of them a few times. Dum Dum would tell me stories about how ‘everytime Cap went and did something stupid, like jump out an airplane without a parachute, or throw his shield and miss, Sarge would give him such a shouting at’. He used to tell me about how close you two were. If you saw one, the other was either right next to him, or very close by. 

“When I got a little older, Jacques, who’d learned more english by then, but still needed Gabe to help with some translation, used to tell me about how he thought you two were soulmates. How you’d always knew what the other was doing, even if they weren’t there. How you were never apart by choice, and you seemed to have a way of communicating without ever opening your mouth, on and off the battlefield. Of course, they never told me you two were a couple. 

“I can’t remember if I’d ever met Morita, but Falsworth used to say you two were the ‘meanest sons of bitches out there’. They all talked about how good a sniper Barnes was, and how stupid Cap was, but they always praised Steve for how much of a good leader he was. Even though I didn’t know them as well as I knew Peggy, I still called each of them my uncles. The last time I saw any of them was at my parents' funeral. By then, Falsworth and Morita had died fighting for S.H.I.E.L.D, and Gabe was on his way out too, so he couldn’t make it. Dum Dum, Jacques and Aunt Peggy were the only two there. After that, the only person I saw again was Peggy. I’d visit her in the hospital, before she died” Tony finished, a heavy silence lowering over the fire. 

“Wow. I didn’t know that, Tony. I can see why you were so resentful to me the first time we met, face to face. You grew up hearing how much people loved me, especially from your father, and suddenly, here’s the man everyone talked so much about, and he’s nothing special. Just a successful test, after so many failures” Steve said, breaking the silence, and looking over at Tony, an understanding look on his face. 

“Yeah, well, we’ve moved past that. I can see what everyone was raving about, when I was a kid. Especially the stupidity. Just don’t expect me to start calling you and Winter Smolder over there Uncles anytime soon” Tony joked, getting a chuckle out of everyone at the fire. A silence fell over the group once more, but this time, it wasn’t heavy and uncomfortable, it was a calm, peaceful silence. Everyone felt content, getting to be around the people they’ve come to love. They sat in the silence for about two minutes, before Bucky spoke up. 

“Hey Stevie, why don’t you tell them one of the Commando stories” Everyone turned their attention to Steve and Bucky.

“Which one, Buck? There are so many” Steve replied, trying to think of the best story. Bucky thought about this for a few seconds. 

“How about the one where we got back at Dum Dum for filling our sleeping bag with mud? He offered. Steve laughed a bit at the memory, and nodded.

“Okay, so, by this point, the Howlies knew about our relationship, and they were just as supportive as Peggy was. Of course, someone” Steve stopped, and glared at Bucky for a second. Bucky just smiled innocently, and shrugged his shoulders.

“Decided to start a Prank War. It didn’t start that way, it was more, a Prank Back Alley Fight-”

“Which Steve knows all about” Bucky interrupted, grinning from ear to ear, as Steve glared at him again.

“It didn’t become a full on war, until Bucky cheated at poker, and made a killing. The guys all found out, and planned their revenge. They got it, when Dum Dum, somehow, we still don’t know how, sweet talked a girl who worked at the local shop, who lived in the town we were staying at for a few days, to give him their hottest spices for free. That night, as we ate our food, Bucky’s face went redder than I’d ever seen it, and he started gasping for water, as tears stream down his face. Dum Dum had given the spice to Gabe, who had cooked the dinner that night. They laced Bucky’s food with the spice, and laughed their asses off” Steve recalled, laughing again, and Bucky hit his shoulder.

“Hey, that was the most pain I have ever, and will ever feel again. Nothing has hurt worse to this day” Bucky said, defending himself for no reason.

“Anyway, that kicked started the war, and I mostly stayed out of it. I tried to be as neutral as possible, until Dum Dum filled our sleeping bag with mud. Then it was personal. The reason he’d done it, was because Bucky had filled his Bowler hat with sand, and for some reason, Dum Dum didn’t feel any weight difference, and put it on his head. So, it’s late at night, we’ve set up camp somewhere in Europe, I can’t remember exactly. All Bucky and I want to do is go to sleep. We get to our tent, because we didn’t have to hide around the Howlies. We start getting ready to sleep, and when we finally open the sleeping bag, Bucky was too tired to see the mud, and he just slipped right in! He was covered in mud! It was pretty funny.

“But, of course, he had to get revenge. Normally, I would have been against it, but like I said, this time it was personal. So, we decided to do the worst thing to Dum Dum, that we could possibly do. We decided to shave his mustache” Steve said, giggling along with Bucky.

“Why was that the worst thing?” asked Clint, who, like everyone else, was enthralled with the story.

“There were three things Dugan cared most about, that he always had with him. A picture of his girl, his Bowler hat, and his mustache. We weren’t about to do something to the photo. That would have been cruel of us. We decided against doing something to the hat, because it was only a matter of time before it got shot, preferably without Dugans head in it. So, we decided on the mustache. We were going to only shave half of it, so it wouldn’t grow back evenly, but that was just insult to injury, so we decided to go all the way” Bucky answered, a bright smile on his face, as Steve continued the story.

“So, the next night, we pretended to go to sleep when everyone else had. Once we knew everyone was out like a light, we grabbed a razor, and some shaving cream, and sneaked out of our tent, into Dugan’s. We had a bit of a fight earlier about who should actually do the shaving, but in the end, we decided it had to be Bucky”

“Why Barnes?” asked Tony, who’d only heard Dum Dum’s side of the story. 

“As a sniper, I had very steady hands, and still do, just for different reasons now. Steve did too, back before the serum. He was an artist, hands of steel. But after the serum, his hands were a little less steady, as his body got used to being super big. We didn’t have anything but a straight razor, so we had to make sure the person who did the shaving had steady hands, or else, we were liable to cut Dugan. We also eventually decided on me, because I was smaller than Steve. He would have had to do a lot of kneeling, to reach Dugan’s face” Bucky said, looking up at Steve, who was still smiling.

“So, we make it to his tent, and thankfully, the howlies didn’t have to share tents, because we were in Ally territory at the time. So, I stood outside, and Bucky went in the tent, and started applying the shaving cream. We honestly thought he was going to wake up at any minute, and catch us in the act. I have no idea how he didn’t wake up. Anyway, Bucky starts shaving away, and we could actually see Dum Dum’s upper lip, for the first time. He stirred a couple of times, but thankfully didn’t wake up. As soon as Bucky was finished, he crept out of the tent as quietly as he could, and then we carefully, but quickly, made our way back to our tent” Steve said.

“We wake up the next morning, to the sound of screams. Everyone was out of their tents in a second. We thought it was a Hydra ambush. Thankfully, it wasn’t. It was Dugan, screaming about his lost facial hair. Almost nobody could recognize him at first, and when everyone realized who it was, they laughed for ages. He knew we had something to do with it, but he couldn’t find any proof. After that, we all declared a Prank Truce, and the war stopped” Bucky finished, as everyone chuckled.

“Did Peggy ever join in?” asked Carol, a smile on her face.

“She did, but she was always the one pranking us. Everyone knew, Agent Peggy Carter doled out the pranks, she never received them. It was an unspoken rule for all of us. You prank Peggy, you would come to regret it” Steve said, laughing again.

“Did anyone prank her, before the rule was unspoken?” asked Clint. Bucky nodded, looking enthusiastic.

“Oh yeah. Only one person. That was all it took to learn to not fuck with Margaret Carter. 

“Who was it?” asked Tony, thinking it was Dum Dum. Steve and Bucky shared a look, like they might burst from laughter.

“Your dad” they said, simultaneously. Tony looked shocked, but also like he’d expected this answer.

“As soon as he caught word of the Prank War, he thought it would be hilarious, to prank Peggy. I had already known how bad an idea that was, when I saw Hodge, one of the other candidates for Project Rebirth, get decked right across the face, the first time I’d met her. He made some scathing remark about her sitting on his lap, and she punched him before I could. I’d wondered what she would do to us if we pranked her. His ‘genius idea’ was to hide her lipstick, which was a big no-no. Peggy was never seen without it on, it was one of her distinguishing features. She wore it, even though we were at war, because, as she put it, ‘I can kick your ass, and look good doing it’, which is what the kids these days call, ‘Big Dick Energy’. Steve said, smirking at Peter and Shuri, who applauded him. 

“That wasn’t even the worst part! He decided to hide her lipstick in my belongings, back at base camp, which were not with Steve’s, because base camp included more than just the Howlies, Peggy and Howard. Colonel Phillips, for one thing, was always there, plus other recruits. Anyway, Pegs searched for her lipstick everywhere. She tore through everyone’s stuff, she shot at Steve again, she threatened to light Dum Dum’s hat on fire, ect, ect. I think someone was getting back at me for another prank, by telling her to look through my stuff, saying I’d taken it. She confronted me about it, and I thought she might just kill me, and say I died in a Hydra abush. I finally managed to convince her that I hadn’t taken it, when I told her that I had heard Howard say something about pranking her.

“She damn near almost killed him, when she found out he was the one who’d done it. The reason she was so pissed, wasn’t because we’d taken her lipstick, it was because she’d fought through tooth and nail to make it to such a high rank in the army, especially when no woman had gotten there before. She couldn’t allow herself to be made a joke, not while people already doubted her, especially around people just meeting her. What she did, to make sure she was never made a joke again, was so cruel, but so perfect. She found the most specific screwdriver she could, in Howard’s toolbox, and threw it into the nearby river. Howard tore his workshop to pieces looking for it, and nobody ever told him what happened to it. At that point, we’d already learned what happened if you crossed Peggy Carter” Bucky finished, laughing at the memory of Howard frantically looking for the screwdriver.

“Okay, so, turns out, Anna and Elsa over there have the best stories ever. Kinda want to hear more. Anyone got any ideas?” asked Tony, pointing to Steve and Bucky, who chuckled at the Frozen joke.

“Well, how about the first time they met” Quill offered, still fanboying inside, just a little. 

“Oh, that’s a good one!” said Clint, who’s idea was to ask them to tell a story about the first time they discovered the internet.

“Oh, that’s an old one. That was so long ago. Do you want to start off, or should I?” Bucky asked, turning to Steve. 

“You start. I love the way you tell this story” he said, and Bucky blushed a little. Around them, everyone ‘awed’.

“Shut up. So, this was the start of, fourth grade, would you say, Stevie?” Bucky paused, and looked at Steve, who thought for a few seconds, before nodding.

“Yeah, so, fourth grade, I was around 7, Steve would have been 6. I was the new kid in class, my family had just moved from Indiana, sometime before the summer. Right away, the teacher introduced me to the class, saying, ‘class, this is James. He is going to be joining us from here on out. What do we say?’, and then the kids all said, ‘Hi, James’, in that tone that kids use, when they have to say something, ‘cause an adult told them to. The only person who didn’t say hi with the class was this little blonde kid towards the back, who had his head in his notebook, taking notes, or something. I noted him, but didn’t think much of it, until lunch and outside time. 

“We had lunch and outside time, which is basically playtime, outside, hence the name. Everyone ate lunch with their friends, and I quickly made a lot of friends myself. People wanted to know what Indiana was like, they wanted to know about me, ect, ect. I noted again, that the little blonde kid was all by himself, and still had his nose in his notebook. That struck me as a little odd, but I didn’t think about it too much. It wasn’t till my new friends asked me to play with them, that I finally thought about the kid. Everyone was playing, and he was still sitting out, his nose in his notebook, all by himself. When I asked my friends about him, they all replied with, ‘he always sits out, and draws. What a square’.

“We start playing, and not too long goes by, before I hear a little girl yell at a bigger kid to leave her alone. I looked, and he was pulling her braids, and being mean, in the way that fifth grade boys were, at the time. I wanted to go up and help her, but someone beat me to it. That little blonde kid, who’d been so quiet, was suddenly yelling at the bigger kid to leave her alone. The big kid looked down at him and laughed, saying, ‘What are you gonna do, Rogers? Cough me away?’. I wanted to tell the kid to just walk away, but then, this tiny, real skinny kid, looked the guy in the eyes, and said, ‘I’ll do this’, and then punched him directly in the stomach so hard, he keeled over a little bit, and clutched his stomach!

“Suffice to say, I was shocked to see this little kid hit someone about two feet taller than him, that hard. But the kid recovered pretty quick, and returned the punch. The blonde kid fell to the ground, but quickly sprang back to his feet, looking a little worse for wear, but a lot of determination in his eyes. He was about to strike the big kid again, but the guy was too fast, and he hit the little kid right across the face. The kid fell to the ground again, but he recovered a little slower this time, and got to his feet, showing the hurt a little more. I saw his face, and he had a black eye, blood dripping down his nose.

“The older kid looked at him in shock, and said, ‘Just stay down!’. The blonde kid looked him dead, square in the eyes, and said, in the most determined voice I’d ever heard, ‘I can do this all day’. The older kid was about to punch him again, but I knew I couldn’t just let that happen. So, I quickly stepped in, and got in front of the blonde kid, and told the bigger kid to step off. Realizing, yeah, he might be bigger, and older, beating up two younger kids could get him into a lot of trouble, and the older kid left. The girl thanked us both, and walked away.

“The little kid looked at me angrily, and said, ‘I had him!’, which was obviously not the case. I just looked at his black eye, and bloody nose, smirked, and replied, ‘Sure you did’. And then I introduced myself, and he seemed to at least remember the mention of a new kid named James. I told him, ‘You don’t have to call me James. Nobody but my mom and dad call me James. But you can call me Bucky’. That earned me the best puzzled look I’ve ever seen to this day, and the kid said, ‘How d’you get Bucky from James?’ So I simply told him, it was from my middle name, Buchanan. He introduced himself, and said, ‘My name is Steven Grant Rogers. My middle name is easy to say, so you can call me Steve’. I just laughed, and we started talking, and I realized, he was a pretty interesting kid. 

“Turns out, he had asthma, so he couldn’t play with all the other kids, because it messed up his breathing. But, because of that, nobody wanted to be his friend, so he just sat on his own, and drew in his notebook. Pretty soon, my new friends realized I wasn’t playing anymore, and they went looking for me. They finally found me, sitting off to the side with Steve. They got kind of mad at me for leaving them, and talking to Steve, because he was such a loner. 

“They said, ‘Why are you talking to him? He’s a loser. All he does is draw in his notebook. He can’t even play like the rest of us. He’s really lame’. I got kind of mad at them, because I thought Steve was pretty cool, for someone so lame. So I told them I didn’t think he was lame, his drawings are cool, and if he can’t play, then I don’t need to. They gave me an ultimatum, of sorts, and told me that if I was going to talk to Steve, I couldn’t play with them. Steve tried to convince me to leave him, so I could play with my new friends. But I wasn’t having it, so I told both him, and the other kids, that he was my new friend, and I was perfectly fine staying right where I was. Little did I realize, that was the worst, and best choice I ever made. And that’s how I met your mother” Bucky finished, his joke met with a lot of laughter from the group, and Steve smiled at him wetly. Bucky smiled back, and gently kissed Steve on the cheek.

“Did you realize, at the time, that that little blonde boy would one day become your fiance?” asked Scott, who hasn’t said anything the entire time.

“Nope. I didn’t even think we’d be friends in 5 years. But I knew Steve was special, even at that age” Bucky said, blushing.

“Well, that was sufficiently adorable. Should we do one more, and then head on home? It’s close to one in the morning” Sam said, stifling a yawn. Everyone made sounds of agreement.

“Okay, I think it’s only fair that the grandpa’s get to pick the last story” Nat said, and everyone agreed. Steve and Bucky looked at each other, already knowing the story they would tell.

“Okay, so, this is going to be a story that has two different parts to it” Steve told everyone, and they all nodded. 

“I started the last one, you can start this one” Bucky said, threading his fingers between Steve’s, and squeezing gently. Steve looked at him and smiled.

“Okay. So, these next two parts are when we finally realized that we were in love with the other. Since I’m starting off, my story is a little sadder than his. I was 18, Bucky was 19. It was the day of my mothers funeral, and I had been holding in so much that day. I was trying to be strong, and not weep, because I knew, all she ever wanted for me was to be strong. I’d almost made it back to the house after the funeral, alone. But Bucky caught up with me a few blocks from my house. He knew I didn’t want the walk to include talking, so he walked next to me in silence, which I was very grateful for. When we finally made it back to the apartment I’d shared with my mom, he finally started talking. He said, ‘We looked for you after. My folks wanted to give you a ride to the cemetery’. I didn’t want to start talking, because I was afraid I might start crying. But I barreled through, and responded, ‘I know, I’m sorry. I just...kind of wanted to be alone’.

“I could tell he was trying not to sound sad, but I could still hear it in his voice, as he said, ‘How was it?’. I didn’t want to dwell on how I’d actually felt at the funeral. If I’d been honest, I would have said it felt like my whole world was crashing down on me. But instead, I lied and said, ‘It was okay. She’s next to Dad’. We both knew how I really felt, but thankfully, he didn’t bring it up. Instead, he said, ‘I was gonna ask…’, but I knew what he was going to say. For at least 6 months before my mom died, he’d been trying to get me to move into his apartment with him. I was getting close to saying yes, but then my mom got hit with tuberculosis, and I couldn’t leave her. 

“I interrupted him and said, ‘I know what you’re gonna say, Buck. I just…’ But he wasn’t taking no for an answer. So he interrupted me right back, by saying, ‘We can put the couch cushions on the floor, like when we were kids. It’ll be fun. All you gotta do is shine my shoes, maybe take the trash out’. I started looking for my key, which was nowhere in my pockets. He instinctively kicked over the brick that housed the spare key, bent over, picked it up, and handed it to me. ‘Come on’ he said, as I took the key. I wanted to say fine, I wanted to so badly, but I couldn’t. I was on my own, no family to help me. I had to take care of myself now. 

“So I said, ‘Thank you, Buck. But I can get by on my own’. He wasn’t having any of that, so he walked up to me, placed his hand on my shoulder, and squeezed gently, yet comfortingly, and said, ‘The thing is, you don’t have to. I’m with you till the end of the line, pal’. That’s when I knew. Because, there I was, basically an orphan, at that point. I had no living family in America, that I knew of. I was by myself in the world, a sickly, skinny 18 year old, who had to fend for himself. And the person I had grown up with, the one person I could never imagine living without, was telling me that I wasn’t alone. And that I never would be alone, ever. That he would always be there for me. And I knew, he was the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with” Steve said, smiling sweetly at Bucky, as everyone around them awed again. This time, Bucky made no move to stop them. Just silently wiped his eyes, and laughed. 

“What’s so funny?” asked Steve, chuckling along. 

“I just realized, we should have held onto these stories, so we actually had some sweet stories to tell when we finally get married” Bucky said, and Steve started laughing with him.

“We’ll find something to tell. We could always just talk about our first time” Steve said, winking at Bucky, who laughed harder, as everyone around them groaned in disgust.

“Please don’t, because I was going to offer Morgan’s service as flower girl, if Barnes has no great grandnieces under the age of 8” Tony said, looking like he might just go invent brain bleach.

“Deal” Steve said, automatically. Bucky looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“What? She told me she loved me 4000! How could I say no to her being flower girl?” Steve said, as Tony stared at him, mouth gaped like a fish.

“Wait, 4000?! She said she loved me 3000!” he said, looking betrayed.

“Anyway, Jon Snow’s turn to tell his side of the story. Gather ‘round, kids” Bucky said, pointing to himself. Everyone who understood the reference chuckled.

“But you know nothing” Sam said, leaning around Steve, to look at Bucky, who wordlessly flipped him off, and started talking.

“So, unlike Steve’s story, mine has less sadness, and more stupidity in it. Story of my life. Anyway, I was 15 at the time, Steve was 14, beat you to it, Punk. I had already known I felt something for Steve, because everytime I looked at him, my stomach felt fluttery, and my heart picked up the pace. But I didn’t really know it was love. It was a Saturday, but Steve had picked up a job selling newspapers. Unfortunately, the paper didn’t come with a song, just a sick 14 year old. It was around midday, and I hadn’t seen him all morning, because of the job. So I told my ma where I was going, and left the house, heading for Steve’s usual Newsie corner. 

“Of course, when I got there, he wasn’t there, go figure. So, I thought, maybe he went back to the paper joint, picked up more, or went home. I thought I’d start at his house first, so I headed down there. A couple blocks from the corner, I heard a scuffle in the alley as I walked by it, and my Steve is Doing Something Stupid alarms went off. I headed into the alley, to see if this was maybe a different idiot named Steve. Just my luck, it wasn’t. It was my idiot named Steve, getting his ass kicked by a couple of thugs only a year older than him. This was the norm, and he was actually doing good holding his own against them, so I held back.

“But then I heard one of them say, ‘Extra! Extra! Read all about it! 14 year old fairy is too afraid to kiss a girl!’ and that got my blood boiling. Back then, if you were a part of the gay community, you hid, or you died. There were terrible stories you heard on the streets of gay men, who had their homes broken into, and they were dragged out into the streets, and beaten to death. You could be jailed just for being accused of being gay. Didn’t matter if you were or weren’t. So, to hear my best friend get called a fairy, it made me see red. I didn’t want anything to happen to Steve. I was about to step in, without even thinking that, in doing so, it might just confirm these assholes belief that Steve was gay.

“That’s when Steve turned up the ass kicking to a eleven, and that was enough to get these guys running. It was the first and only time Steve won a fight before 1943. When the guys all cleared out, I walked up to Steve, and said, ‘That was awesome, Stevie! What happened?’. He jumped a little, not knowing I was there, then he saw who it was, and smiled. He said, between heavy, wheezy breaths, ‘I was on my way home, after sellin’ all my papers, when those guys jumped me, and tried to take my money. They chased me into this alley, and I fought ‘em off’. I knew that wasn’t the full story, so I pressed on.

“‘No’, I said. ‘I meant, just now, with them callin’ you a fairy’. He looked at me, and I could tell, he was thinking about his answer. ‘Well’, he said, after a few seconds, ‘When they called me that, it just got me so steamed up. Fairy shouldn’t be an insult! People can’t control who they love, they just fall, no matter for who! It’s like catching a cold. You can do everythin’ in your power to try and avoid getting it, but in the end, you’re gonna get it, no matter what.’ And I felt that feeling in my stomach again, and I felt my heartbeat quicken again, and I thought I knew what it was, but I still couldn’t be sure.

“So, I decided, we should go back to his place, seeing as that’s where he had been headed in the first place. For the first and last time in his life, he’d come out of an alley fight with nothing but a scraped knee, somehow. So cleaning up injuries was low on the list of things we had to do immediately. When we got there, his mother was finishing folding clothes that had been hanging from the clothes line on the fire escape. She was happy to see us, especially Steve, seeing as his face wasn’t all bloodied up for once. We spent the rest of the day at his house, and his mother even made me supper, making sure to call my mother to let her know. She was fine with it, as long as I was home for bed.

“After supper, it was just the three of us, me, Steve and Sarah. I can’t remember how, but the conversation led to love. Steve asked his mom what she’d felt when she’d first found out she was in love with Joseph, his father, who’d died right at the end of The Great War, right before Steve was born. The Great War being the name for World War 1, since we’d never expected there to be a second one. Her eyes got sad, and we both knew she was thinking of better times. It was a minute before she answered him.

“She said, ‘I knew I loved Joseph when I looked at him, and he shone brighter than the sun. I could stay up all night listening to the things he had to say, and to me, he’d hung the moon and the stars. He made my heart beat faster, and the butterflies in my stomach flew around so much, it almost hurt. I knew, when I looked at him, and realized that I never wanted to be with anyone else. When I looked at him, and found myself saying, I want to grow old, waking up to that face next to mine. That’s when I knew’. 

“That hit me like a ton of bricks, because as I listened, she’d described everything I felt when I looked at Steve. The butterflies, my heart beating quicker. When I looked at Steve, he shone brighter than anybody in the world, brighter than the moon, brighter than the sun and all the stars in the sky. I hung onto every word he’s ever said, and I dared a glance at Steve, after realizing this, and I found myself thinking that I wanted to grow old with him next to me. I knew I’d never want anybody else, for as long as I’d live, be it one more day, or 100 years from then. That’s when I knew. 

“And I still feel that, even now. Everytime I look at Steve, he shines, albeit, a little higher than he used to. He shines brighter than even Stark’s newest, shiniest suit. I still hang onto every word he said, even the dumbest ones, and I couldn’t be more grateful to get to wake up to his face, next to mine. And I still don’t want anyone else, for as long as I live, especially now that I’ve made it to 100 years from that day. Some things never change” Bucky finished, his head resting on Steve’s shoulder, as people around them wiped their eyes (even Natasha). Steve looked down at Bucky, and they smiled at each other. 

“I love you” Steve whispered to Bucky, kissing him gently on the forehead

“I love you too. I always will” Bucky whispered back, leaning forward, and catching Steve’s lips with his, kissing him gently. Everyone awed, for the third or fourth time that night, and there was definitely a phone camera flash that went off somewhere to Bucky’s right, probably Nat, Clint, or Sam. But he was too happy to care. The war was over, everyone lived, and he and Steve got to have a second chance at life, one where they could be in love, and share it with the world. They kissed softly for about a minute, not wanting the kiss to heat up in front of their friends and family, but also because it would ruin the moment. When they finally pulled apart, they looked around at their friends, in just enough time to see Tony try and discretely lower his phone, like he hadn’t also been taking photos. 

“You were right, babe. We should have held onto those stories for when we finally get hitched” Steve said, and Bucky snorted.

“When did you guys finally get together?” Peter asked, looking like he’d just found his new OTP, while Shuri silently squealed next to him. Steve was about to answer, when Bucky covered his mouth with his hand.

“Nope. We agreed to one more story. Besides, if we told you that story, we’d have nothing new to tell at the wedding” Bucky winked, and Peter nodded, winking back, though not entirely sure why. 

“But, we might have to cut out the last quarter of that story, right Buck?” Steve asked, lightly elbowing Bucky, who looked puzzled for a second.

“Wait, why would we have to cut--oh. Right. Yup, we can tell an edited version of that story later” Bucky said, blushing, when he remembered the reason.

“Alright everyone, this has been a successful first party at Casa De Stark, but it’s almost one thirty in the morning, and my six year old loves to wake her father up at eight in the morning, asking for pancakes. It was great seeing everybody, we’ll be in touch with the Guardians, you guys are official Avengers now. Same goes for Captain Numero Dos” Tony said, pointing at the Guardians, and Carol. Everyone stood up, said their goodbyes, and left. When the last people were gone, and the Guardians had turned off the lights of their ship, that sat not too far from Tony’s cabin, Tony kicked dirt into the fire, putting it out, reached out for Pepper’s hand, and when she took it, they walked back to the house together, both mentally preparing to be woken up in 6 and a half hours, by Morgan, asking for pancakes, even though she loves Steve a thousand times more than Tony.


End file.
